Make Believe
by sugah66
Summary: She can pretend all she wants, but this is real. Immediately following the events of Elvis's Chapel O' Burnin' Love, because so many people asked. DL. Oneshot.


**TITLE: Make Believe  
****AUTHOR: Sugah Sugah  
****SUMMARY: Lindsay and Danny are one step closer to Elvis.  
****SPOILERS: "Super Men", if you want to get technical.  
****PAIRING: Danny/Lindsay  
****RATING: K+ - I behave myself again.  
****DISCLAIMER: Nothing's changed in the past couple of days. They're still not mine.  
****AUTHOR'S NOTE: Takes place right where "Elvis's Chapel O' Burnin' Love" left off (okay, slightly before). It's not necessary to read that fic first, but you might want to. I got so many requests for that story to continue that I just had to do it. However, you may all still hate me when you're finished with this one. :evil laughter:**

**Elvis fans may recognize the title. It's one of my favorite Elvis songs.**

elvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisruleselvisrules

**Make Believe**

_"**No one will ever know how much I love you so. My only prayer will be someday you'll care for me, but it's only make believe." – Elvis Presley**_

Lindsay pinched herself. Nope. Still not dreaming. She was seriously standing in one of the cheesiest wedding chapels in the entire city of Las Vegas. Elvis's Chapel O' Burnin' Love. Honestly, who came up with some of these names? It was ridiculous. Still, she had picked this chapel after Danny jokingly suggested they get married.

Yes. She knew he was joking. She was attempting to take the joke one step further – to call his bluff. She wanted to see how he would try to gracefully back out of yet another marriage proposal. So they said good night to their Vegas hosts and took a walk until Lindsay found a chapel that spoke to her. They walked in, registered, and sat down to wait their turn. It was rather late for Lindsay, but apparently Las Vegas was just starting to come alive. There were already half a dozen couples waiting to be married – only one or two of them were too intoxicated to stand. And all the while, Lindsay waited for Danny to admit that he was just kidding.

But he didn't admit it. And the amount of couples in the waiting area was quickly dwindling. Lindsay started to hyperventilate.

Then the receptionist called their number. And Danny, who had hardly looked at her the entire time that they were waiting, walked over to her and held out his arm. And the way he was looking at her, the sparkle in his eyes, the light in his smile, it made her heart flutter, if only for a moment. She was convinced he was upping the ante, waiting to see how long she would go along with this until she was the one who backed out. Well, she wasn't going to back out. She took his arm and they walked into the chapel.

She had to bite her lip to keep from bursting out into a fit of hysterical laughter when she saw what the inside of the chapel looked like. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but this was not it. The walls were covered in purple velvet, and plastic stars had been attached to the material; they weren't in any specific pattern, though. A sheer white gauzy material was stretched over the stars. In Lindsay's opinion, it was a little too much, even for a cheesy Vegas wedding chapel. The red carpet that went between the rows of pews was covered in the same gauzy material. The altar itself was decorated with palm trees strung with white twinkle lights. There was a surfboard mounted on the wall behind the overweight man in the white sequin jumpsuit.

Elvis, speaking in what Lindsay presumed to be his normal speaking voice – which was a bit high and squeaky and almost caused Lindsay to have a giggle fit, gave them a short synopsis of what the ceremony would entail. Then the chapel staff gave them a few brief instructions before positioning Danny on Elvis's left and sending Lindsay back to the doors so that she could walk down the aisle.

Lindsay started hyperventilating again. This was happening. This was really happening. She had to stop this. She had to stop this now. If in the event she ever did want to marry Danny Messer, she didn't want it to happen like this. She wanted a real wedding. She wanted a real wedding dress – not the jean skirt, tank top, flip-flop combination she was currently sporting. She wanted a string quartet playing "Canon in D", not an organist playing…was that "Love Me Tender"? She wanted her father to walk her down the aisle, not herself. She wanted her friends to be watching, not a bunch of strangers.

This wasn't a real wedding. Not really. It was pretend, a fantasy, make believe. But it would have very real consequences in that as soon as it was over Lindsay would be Mrs. Danny Messer. Legally.

The thought made her heart soar. She loved the thought of being Mrs. Danny Messer. She loved the thought of waking up to his face every morning. She loved the thought of going to bed next to him every night. She loved the thought of kissing him goodbye when he left for work on the days she had off. She loved the thought of being with him in every sense of the word. She loved him. There. She said it. She loved Danny Messer.

But he didn't love her. And therein lay the problem. Because this was real for her. This was a real wedding. But it was just a joke to him.

She was at the altar. Danny moved up to stand beside her. Elvis was standing before them. She had to stop this. She had to stop this now.

She couldn't stop it. She didn't want to. She knew she should, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Dearly beloved," Elvis said, but he stopped and glared at Danny, because he had just started coughing to cover up the fact that he was laughing at the abysmal Elvis accent the man was using. Danny cleared his throat and threw Elvis an apologetic smile. Elvis continued. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here tonight to witness the union of Danny and Lindsay in holy matrimony."

Lindsay's breath caught in her throat. She'd half expected Danny to tell Elvis to say "Montana". It would go along with the joke. God, this was all a joke. He'd proposed as a joke. She couldn't do this. She couldn't go through with this.

"Danny," Lindsay said, and she hated the way her voice trembled as she spoke, "we can't do this."

Danny stared at her. "Sure we can. I've paid. We're good to go."

Lindsay burst into a fit of nervous laughter, shaking her head. "No, I mean we can't do this." She gestured at the chapel with a sweep of her arm. "This is a wedding chapel." She pointed to Elvis. "This is a minister. Sort of." She ignored the death glare that Elvis gave her and lightly pounded on Danny's chest. "This is a wedding, and it's not a joke anymore."

She couldn't have read the look in his eyes no matter how hard she tried. He looked almost hurt. "Who said it was a joke in the first place, Montana?"

She blinked. "You…you were just joking. You weren't serious." But she was no longer sure about that. She was no longer sure about anything.

Danny chuckled softly and shook his head. "I think I'll be the judge of when I'm being serious or not."

Lindsay's eyes burned with tears. She tried to force them back but they trickled down her cheeks. "Danny, come on. We can't get married. We're not in love." Her voice caught on the last word; she hoped he didn't notice. "We've never been on a date. We've never even kissed."

"Hey, if that's your problem, we can solve that right now," Danny said. He lightly cupped her chin with his hands and drew her face upwards until their lips met.

The kiss was soft and anything but chase – a kiss of promise and passion, lust and need. It was how she always imagined kissing Danny would be. He was tender and loving, worshipping her mouth like a pilgrim bows before a religious relic. She returned the favor with a thorough exploration of her own.

Eventually, Elvis tapped Danny on the shoulder, and Danny pulled away from Lindsay. "We haven't gotten to that part yet, kids," Elvis said.


End file.
